1. Field of the Present Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to armored vehicles and, more particularly, to a small, compact, highly maneuverable, multi-purpose armored vehicle configured to be used for security purposes such as patrols, alarm responses, protection of police personnel in critical transactions in hostage situations, and support bomb threat situations.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Cunningham, US 2005/0230163, discloses a motorized vehicle that includes a vehicle body having a rigid frame in a shape of a tractor; and a plurality of audio and visual devices disposed on the vehicle body, including a camera. The vehicle can be remote-controlled, and the vehicle body may be armored and may include a weapon system. The camera may be one of a motion, thermal, digital, and near infrared camera, and may be retractable into a housing. In another embodiment, the motorized vehicle, which may be remote-controlled, includes a vehicle body having a rigid frame in a rectangular shape with sloped sides; at least one storage unit accessed by doors, disposed within the vehicle body; and a camera disposed on the vehicle body.
Bruner et al., US 2006/0237239, discloses a powered personal utility vehicle having a quick-change body configuration with a mating tray assembling and a universal chassis is disclosed. The upper level of the mating tray houses electronics while the lower level engages with the universal chassis to form the personal utility vehicle. Reconfigurations are simplified with plug and play design electronics. Vehicle traction is increased through a specialized track and drive wheel design that improves contact between the surfaces allowing operation in multiple environments. The two-piece wheel design allows assembly of the inflatable drive molded balloon tire. Adjustment of inflation levels of the balloon tires controls track tension. Control is either manually programmed into the on-board central processing unit, or via carrier signals. Semi and fully autonomous operation is disclosed. Advanced operator interaction functions using two-way real time video and audio are disclosed along with LED and GPS systems. The invention as disclosed is configurable for a range of uses, load capacities and sizes.
Knox, U.S. Pat. No. 1,696,439, discloses a tank including a body, front and rear supporting wheels, endless tracks encircling the wheels, a motor within the body and positioned at its approximate longitudinal center, a planetary transmission directly in front of the motor for communicating power to the front wheels, a seat for the operator directly in rear of the motor and on the floor of the body, a plurality of foot controls on both sides of the motor, a cover hinged to the rear wall of the body, said cover and body formed to provide a streamline gun compartment, and an element of a gun-mount carried by the body and cover.
Delisle et al., U.S. D222,859, discloses a design for a tank-like vehicle body.
Wait, U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,216, discloses a small, low cost, very maneuverable, self-propelled, one-man armored vehicle makes use of a commercially available chassis and is especially adapted to be used for security purposes. The vehicle is provided with non-steerable wheels, all of which are driven, and controllably so on opposite sides for steering purposes.
Monte et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,292, discloses a track-laying, remotely controlled, miniature target vehicle is shown, bearing an expendable shell which resembles a military tank.
Four grooved pulleys on each side carry two V-belts as tracks, one wheel being electric motor-driven. The two reversible electric motors, one for each side, run and are controlled independently of each other by means of speed control units receiving signals from an on-board radio receiver. A transmitter remote from the simulated battlefield is under the control of a tank commander who puts the tank through realistic maneuvers. More remote visual control is provided by an auxiliary control device electrically connected to the transmitter and which is co-operable with an optical instrument, being attached for example to the two telescopes of optical binoculars by quick-releasable straps.
Iwamoto et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,407, discloses a vehicle having a pair of endless tracks each extending around a series of wheels arranged in a plane adjacent to one side of the vehicle body. One of the series of wheels on each side of the vehicle body is movable relative to the vehicle body to a selected position to vary the configuration of the endless track in side view so that the vehicle is given a superior running performance and is freely movable along paths having various obstacles.
Merritt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,240, discloses a small, maneuverable, self-propelled tracked vehicle equipped with a boom having a tool attached to an extendable section of the boom. The vehicle is small and light enough to enter and be used in places, such as residential yards, in which traditional vehicles with buckets and digging tools, because of their size and weight, cannot be used. A three-stage gear pump powers the tracks and the boom on the bucket or digger. The vehicle has four outriggers to stabilize the vehicle during use, the outriggers arranged substantially perpendicular to each other and at angles of approximately forty-five degrees from the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
Morris, U.S. D492,621, discloses a design for an armored assault vehicle.
Overlach et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,899,189, discloses a protective firefighting vehicle comprising a chassis conceived for heavy loads, a driving gear for rough terrain and a tank mounted on the chassis for receiving liquids such as water or fire-extinguishing agents or the like. The tank is divided in at least two chambers via at least one bulkhead-like partition. Provision is made in this connection that at least one of the chambers of the tank can be sealed off in a liquid-tight manner against at least one other chamber of the tank in order to permit the transport of persons in the at least one sealable chamber.
The related art described above discloses compact armored vehicles providing such utilities as armored plating, a plurality of audio and visual devices, a telescopic boom, retractable stabilization legs, remote-control capabilities, and the ability to climb relatively steep inclines. However, the prior art fails to disclose such a vehicle that also provides a plurality of connectors configured for allowing multiple devices to be connected and controlled within the cockpit of the vehicle. In addition, the prior art fails to disclose such a vehicle providing additional connectors at the end of the telescopic boom for connecting devices such as, for example, a video camera, microphone, and speaker in order to simulate face-to-face communications between the driver of the vehicle and a person in proximity to the end of the telescopic boom. In addition, the prior art fails to disclose such a vehicle that that provides at least one horizontally pivotable armored shield positioned and configured for protecting individuals walking alongside the vehicle. The present disclosure distinguishes over the prior art providing heretofore unknown advantages as described in the following summary.